Medical images, such as X-rays, CAT (computerized axial tomography) scans, and MRI's (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), may be digitized to facilitate remote reading by radiologists. A hospital or other medical facility may use machines that capture and digitize the images and transmit them to a remote image server, such as a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS). The transmission may occur over a network, such as an intranet or the Internet.
Additionally, the hospital may also transmit orders corresponding to the images to an order server, such as a Radiologist Information System (RIS). The orders may be requests for a radiologist to interpret, or read, the images and return a diagnostic report. Orders may also contain information, such as a patient identifier, the procedure type associated with the image, patient demographic information, and a hospital identifier.
Both the images and orders may be transmitted by the image server and the order server, respectively, to a remote system operated by a radiologist. After receipt of the images and orders, the radiologist may analyze the image and return the diagnostic report using the remote system. The diagnostic report may be transmitted through the network to the order server, which may send the report to the hospital or other medical facility that originally transmitted the order and images corresponding to the report.